5.  In October 2004 Judge Z. instituted proceedings in the Leninskyy District Court (Kirovograd) against the applicant company. He complained that his electricity had been cut off for unpaid bills, although he was entitled to a 50% reduction in electricity payments in accordance with section 44 of the Status of Judges Act and owed nothing.
6.  On 26 October 2004 the court found that Judge Z. was entitled to the reduction in question, ordered the applicant company to reconnect his apartment to the electricity network, to cancel his debt (668.93 Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH) (at the material time around 95.67 euros (EUR)) and to pay Judge Z. UAH 1,000 (at the material time around EUR 143) in compensation for non-pecuniary damage. It was not indicated what period the debt covered.
7.  On 9 March 2005 the Cherkassy Regional Court of Appeal upheld this judgment. It held, inter alia, that by cutting off the electricity in Judge Z.’s apartment the applicant company had breached “the judge’s immunity and inviolability of his residence” and that judges’ privileges should not depend on availability of “budget financing”.
8.  On 28 December 2006 the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the applicant company’s appeal on points of law. This decision was taken in the applicant company’s representative’s absence and, according to the applicant company, was sent to it on 25 January 2007. On 8 February 2007 the applicant company appealed against the decision of 28 December 2006 under the extraordinary review procedure, but its appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Ukraine on 16 April 2007.
9.  On 18 November 2005 the applicant company instituted proceedings in the Kyiv City Commercial Court against the Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, claiming the amount allegedly unpaid by Judge Z. and reimbursement of the compensation awarded to Judge Z. and paid by the applicant company on 26 October 2004. The applicant company referred to section 17 of the Electric Power Industry Act, and stated that it followed from the law in force that it was for the State to cover the electricity payments, from which the judges were exempted.
10.  The applicant company further referred to decision No. 426 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 31 March 2003 “On adoption of the Regulation on provision of privileges, compensation and guarantees to employees of the budget entities and to military personnel”, in which, according to the claimant, a mechanism for provision of the said privileges was created. In particular, the regulation provided that the reimbursement of expenses relating to an employee’s exemption from various payments should be covered by the budget-funded institution which employed him/her.. Therefore, the applicant company stated that the Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal had failed to comply with its obligation to cover the remaining part of Judge Z.’s electricity expenses.
11.  On 21 April 2006 the court found against the applicant company. It stated, inter alia, that:
“The claimant’s reference to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers no. 426 is irrelevant for the following reasons.
Part 3 of the Regulation provides that expenses for reimbursement of costs for reduced payments are to be covered at the expense of and within the limits of budget allocations to budget entities.
Part 5 of the Regulation provides that the person entitled to reduction should provide the copies of his receipted bills for communal charges to the accounts service of the relevant budget entity.
The monetary equivalent of the relevant reductions and compensations is to be paid to the respective person together with other payments (salary etc.) (part 8 of the Regulation).
The State Judicial Administration of Ukraine was created by the Presidential Decree no. 780 of 29 August 2002. It is a central executive authority which covers the logistical needs of the courts of general jurisdiction and of other judicial entities (Section 125 of the Judiciary Act). The logistical needs of the courts include financial, material, technical, personnel, informational and other activities which form part of an independent judiciary.
In accordance with Section 120 of the above Act, the State Judicial Administration is a key budget spending unit which meets the needs of the courts of general jurisdiction.
According to Section 121.1 of the above Act, the courts of general jurisdictions are financed in accordance with budget plans and monthly expenses plans, adopted in accordance with the Act, within the limits provided by the Budget Act for the relevant year, and in accordance with the Budget Code.
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As follows from the case materials, there were no breaches in the actions of the State Judicial Administration and of the Kirovograd Regional Court of Appeal. They had no commercial obligations in respect of the claimant, and were not parties to its case with Z.
It should be also noted that the State Judicial Administration, as a key budget spending unit in respect of the State expenses for financing the functioning of the general jurisdiction courts, did not receive any funding in 2003-2005 to cover judges’ communal charges expenses.
As a key budget spending unit the State Judicial Administration creates a budget plan and submits it to the Ministry of Finance. It further receives budget allocations as provided in the State Budget Act pursuant to Sections 22 and 23 of the Budget Code of Ukraine.
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... the State Judicial Administration has no right to make budget payments without a relevant budget allocation.
Given that any payments ... from the Budget may only be made when there is a relevant budget specification, which was not provided by the 2003-2005 State Budget Acts in respect of payments by the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine (as a key budget spending unit) for communal utilities for judges , the court sees no legal grounds for satisfying the claims”.
12.  On 24 April 2007 the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal upheld this judgment.
13.  On 18 July 2007 the Higher Commercial Court of Ukraine rejected the applicant company’s appeal on points of law. On 4 October 2007 the Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the applicant company’s request for leave to appeal on points of law against the decision of 28 July 2007.
14.  In 2007-08 the applicant company instituted a number of proceedings against other judges, seeking payment in full for electricity (see Annex). The courts rejected the applicant company’s claims, referring to the legal provisions entitling judges to the reduction in question. The applicant company appealed, arguing that the law in force did not provide for an obligation on a private entity to cover judges’ welfare payments, which were for the State to make. The courts rejected this argument, finding that “material guarantees of judges’ independence should not depend on budget resources”. All the applicant company’s further appeals were to no avail.